THE BREAM. 75 



-must have numbered many hundreds, cross a long shallow 

 stream', working their way against a heavy Trent current. We 

 supposed them to be going to a deep, quiet swim some two 

 •or three hundred yards higher up the river. We sat per- 

 fectly quiet in the boat, and had a good view within a very 

 few yards ; but being anxious to see the extent of this shoal, I 

 stood upon the boat seat, and in an instant, as if by magic, 

 ^•very fish sank down and vanished. My old friend used to 

 advance the opinion that these fish were like a hive of bees : 

 when a swim got overcrowded, a " swarm " would leave it and 

 seek a fresh home. There may be something in this ; at any 

 Tate, I can call to mind several instances where friends and 

 myself have met with such a shoal when roach fishing on 

 the shallows in a stream less than a yard in depth; in fact, 

 in a place where no sane fisherman would dream, of bream 

 fishing in ; and yet, on their journey these fish were attracted 

 t)y the ground bait, and came at worms and gentles in gal- 

 lant style, heavy bags being had in the course of two or three 

 hours. Only a short time ago, I remember a case in point, 

 a youth dropped across a *' flitting " shoal of bream ; he was 

 roach fishing from an old punt in about a couple of feet of 

 water ; a fair stream was running, and he must have had some 

 rare fun. He had no landing net, and time after time two 

 and three pound fish were played up to the boat's side, and 

 then dropped off the hook (a small one by the way) in trying 

 to land them with his hand and hat, and yet he came stagger- 

 ing home with fifty pounds of fish. Next morning an expert 

 armed with every necessary, tried the place ; but, never fear, 

 during the night every bream had gone, and a blank, so far 

 as that fish was concerned, was the result. 



Another friend once assured me that he had a very singular 

 ■experience of this kind. He got a rare good bag of bream 

 out of a shallow dyke or stream barely two yards wide, and 

 some quarter mile above its outlet into the river. I have also 

 before me now a very interesting letter that was written by 

 one of the best and most observant anglers on the Trent — 

 Mr. W. Ball, the famous " Trentsider," of Newark. A corre- 

 spondent had asked him his opinion on this question, and in 

 the course of his reply Mr. Ball says : " From their well- 

 known propensities for roaming about, my correspondent 



